Friday, October 14
East Lansing, Mich.
7:30 pm
Michigan State University
0
vs
3
Michigan
Volleyball Sets New Program Attendance Record
10/14/2022 11:59:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball played in front of the largest crowd in Spartan volleyball history on Friday night with 7,326 fans in attendance at the Breslin Center. Friday night's crowd breaks the mark of 6,838 set at the Jam Jenison match in 2016. The Spartans were defeated by No. 24-ranked Michigan, 3-0 (25-17, 30-28, 25-22), but the overall score doesn't accurately depict just how close the match.
In three sets the teams shared 32 tied scores and 15 lead changes. Every set featured at least three lead changes and eight ties, highlighted by a 30-28 second set that had 15 ties and eight lead changes throughout.
"I just want to say thank you to the record-breaking crowd tonight," Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson said. "In my first season I never would have said our goal is to break a record and we did it. They were loud, they were into it, and it was a heck of a volleyball game. I wish we could have sent them home with a win, but I believe, and I hope they believe we sent them home with something to return for."
Michigan State turned in its best hitting performance in Big Ten play, hitting .236 for the match and a team-high .319 in the thrilling second set. The Spartans hit .292 in transition and .194 on first ball attacks for the match. Michigan hit .278 for the match and out-blocked the Spartans 10-9. The Wolverines had five service aces in the match, including three in the third set.
Sophomore Aliyah Moore led Michigan State with 12 kills for the match, while freshman Maradith O'Gorman joined her in double-figures with 11. O'Gorman hit .321, best among MSU's outside hitters. Freshman Nil Okur led the Spartans with six block assists and added seven kills, while hitting a team-best .467 for the match. Fellow Turkish freshman, Selin Aslayan, made her first career start in the green and white, finishing the match with six kills and four blocks. Fifth year Zoe Nunez led the match with 27 assists while junior Nalani Iosia posted a match-best 13 digs.
"This was the most efficient our offense had been in a Big Ten match," Johnson said. "I felt we stayed in every point, we were intentional, we had a good gameplan, we made good adjustments. That's a lot to absorb. For us to keep our composure and earn our own points was really special."
Michigan was led by a 12-kill performance from May Pertofsky and a 10 kill, eight block night from Jess Robinson. Maddie Dowd led the Wolverines in assists with 21, while Kendall Murray contributed 10 digs.
Set one was close through the mid-way point with the Spartans trailing by just one, 17-16, after a Wolverine attacking error. A late 7-0 for Michigan put things out of reach for MSU however as UM would take the set 25-17.
The Spartans trailed by as many as four in set two before tying the set at 13-13 on a kill by Okur. Set two featured 15 tied scores and eight lead changes as neither team gave up without putting up a fight. Michigan had the first set point opportunity at 25-24, but a kill from Moore tied the match back up at 25-25. Back-to-back Moore kills gave MSU a set point opportunity, forcing a Michigan timeout. The Wolverines scored out of the break to tie things up at 26-all, but another kill from Moore once against put the Spartans in position to take the set at 27-26. A pair of MSU blunders put Michigan on set point up 28-27 before an attacking error tied the match once again. Michigan would go on to score the final two points of the set to claim victory in set two. Moore finished with seven of her 12 kills in the second on .385 hitting.
Michigan State held an early 7-3 lead in set three before a 7-2 Wolverine run forced a Spartan timeout now trailing by one. MSU played well out of the timeout once against building an advantage up 13-11, but once against a Michigan run forced a Michigan State timeout following a four-point swing. Michigan State tied things up late, 20-20, on a Nunez kill that forced the Wolverines to talk things over. UM continued to play well out of timeouts however rattling off a 5-2 run to take the set and the match.
UP NEXT: Michigan State hits the road for a match against the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 1:00 p.m. Indiana is coming off a 3-2 loss to Purdue on Friday night as the Hoosiers dropped to 9-10 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.
In three sets the teams shared 32 tied scores and 15 lead changes. Every set featured at least three lead changes and eight ties, highlighted by a 30-28 second set that had 15 ties and eight lead changes throughout.
"I just want to say thank you to the record-breaking crowd tonight," Michigan State head volleyball coach Leah Johnson said. "In my first season I never would have said our goal is to break a record and we did it. They were loud, they were into it, and it was a heck of a volleyball game. I wish we could have sent them home with a win, but I believe, and I hope they believe we sent them home with something to return for."
Michigan State turned in its best hitting performance in Big Ten play, hitting .236 for the match and a team-high .319 in the thrilling second set. The Spartans hit .292 in transition and .194 on first ball attacks for the match. Michigan hit .278 for the match and out-blocked the Spartans 10-9. The Wolverines had five service aces in the match, including three in the third set.
Sophomore Aliyah Moore led Michigan State with 12 kills for the match, while freshman Maradith O'Gorman joined her in double-figures with 11. O'Gorman hit .321, best among MSU's outside hitters. Freshman Nil Okur led the Spartans with six block assists and added seven kills, while hitting a team-best .467 for the match. Fellow Turkish freshman, Selin Aslayan, made her first career start in the green and white, finishing the match with six kills and four blocks. Fifth year Zoe Nunez led the match with 27 assists while junior Nalani Iosia posted a match-best 13 digs.
"This was the most efficient our offense had been in a Big Ten match," Johnson said. "I felt we stayed in every point, we were intentional, we had a good gameplan, we made good adjustments. That's a lot to absorb. For us to keep our composure and earn our own points was really special."
Michigan was led by a 12-kill performance from May Pertofsky and a 10 kill, eight block night from Jess Robinson. Maddie Dowd led the Wolverines in assists with 21, while Kendall Murray contributed 10 digs.
Set one was close through the mid-way point with the Spartans trailing by just one, 17-16, after a Wolverine attacking error. A late 7-0 for Michigan put things out of reach for MSU however as UM would take the set 25-17.
The Spartans trailed by as many as four in set two before tying the set at 13-13 on a kill by Okur. Set two featured 15 tied scores and eight lead changes as neither team gave up without putting up a fight. Michigan had the first set point opportunity at 25-24, but a kill from Moore tied the match back up at 25-25. Back-to-back Moore kills gave MSU a set point opportunity, forcing a Michigan timeout. The Wolverines scored out of the break to tie things up at 26-all, but another kill from Moore once against put the Spartans in position to take the set at 27-26. A pair of MSU blunders put Michigan on set point up 28-27 before an attacking error tied the match once again. Michigan would go on to score the final two points of the set to claim victory in set two. Moore finished with seven of her 12 kills in the second on .385 hitting.
Michigan State held an early 7-3 lead in set three before a 7-2 Wolverine run forced a Spartan timeout now trailing by one. MSU played well out of the timeout once against building an advantage up 13-11, but once against a Michigan run forced a Michigan State timeout following a four-point swing. Michigan State tied things up late, 20-20, on a Nunez kill that forced the Wolverines to talk things over. UM continued to play well out of timeouts however rattling off a 5-2 run to take the set and the match.
UP NEXT: Michigan State hits the road for a match against the Indiana Hoosiers on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 1:00 p.m. Indiana is coming off a 3-2 loss to Purdue on Friday night as the Hoosiers dropped to 9-10 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballKristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Chicago State
Sunday, August 31
Kristen Kelsay Postgame Comments | Merrimack
Saturday, August 30
The Next Set | Kristen Kelsay | Spartans All-Access
Monday, August 25
Volleyball B1G Media Day Press Conference | July 29, 2025
Tuesday, July 29